About Fast Track

Join First Round's Mentor Community

What It's All About

At its core, Fast Track is a 90-day people accelerator running from August 15th to November 15th that matches experts with First Round-backed founders and their team members for 1-1 coaching. Mentorship pairs meet bi-weekly for three months, in person. We offer a powerful matching process and carefully curated resources for you to maximize the impact you have on your Mentee. Over the course of three months, you'll guide your Mentee through the challenges of startup life, help cultivate their leadership skills and leave a lasting impact as a trusted advisor.

Our Current Tracks

Applications for the spring are now closed, but we'd love to hear from you. Click here for updates on future sessions.

Your Mentor Experience

Fast Track is built on the belief that when you tap into the wisdom and generosity of a community, incredible things happen. As a Mentor, you'll join impactful Mentor Cohorts in key areas of interest, such as angel investing, advising, founding and more. You'll receive invitations to intimate 16-person dinners, fireside chats with First Round Partners, digital experiences and programming designed to foster lasting relationships and deep connection. The First Round way involves community, storytelling, laughter, and genuine connections galore.

Achieve their bold goals

Navigate career paths

Attack specific functional areas

Recognize blind spots

Manage and lead

Make connections and open doors

Apply to be a Mentor

Applications for the fall cohort are now closed.

Meet the Mentors

Some of our Mentors are former First Round founders, angel investors we co-invest with, top operators we've had relationships with for 10+ years, and brilliant folks we only recently met. Most of our Mentors have 10+ years of experience — but we make exceptions for people with an uncanny ability to coach and wisdom beyond their years.

Alex Schleifer

Head of Design at Airbnb

Andrea Chesleigh

VP of Product at Boxed

Ashita Achuthan

Group Product Manager at Twitter

Aubrey Blanche

Global Head of Diversity & Belonging at Atlassian

Caitlin Collins

COO at Mango Health

Judy Abad

Global Business and Strategy Lead at WhatsApp

Jules Walter

Product Lead at Slack

Kash Mathur

COO at Chewse

Kelly Graziadei

Founding Partner at F7 Ventures

Kelly Peeler

CEO at MoneyMentor

Kevin Flores

Director, Product Design at 23AndMe

Khalid Halim

Founding Partner & Coach at ReBoot.io

Kimber Lockhart

CTO at One Medical Group

Lee Anne Grant

Chief Business Officer at The Assembly

Matt Wallaert

Chief Behavioral Officer at Clover Health

Mike Boufford

CTO at Greenhouse

Mollie Chen

Co-Founder at Birchbox

Nina Wilkinson

Director of Customer Success at AspireIQ

Peter Wang

CTO at The Mighty

Varun Srinivasan

Director of Engineering at Coinbase

FAQ

Who should apply to become a Fast Track Mentor?

We're seeking the best founders and operators at both early- and late-stage tech companies looking to work side-by-side and share their experiences with their Mentee. People starting companies someday - or thinking about it in the next couple of years, as well as senior operators transitioning into advisory roles. We're specifically seeking women, underrepresented minorities, and people who have had unconventional paths to tech.

Do I need a certain level of experience to apply?

Yes. You should have significant experience as an operating leader, founder, or executive. We are seeking folks across a diverse range of industries and roles - design, engineering, customer success, sales, HR, product marketing, etc. Most of our Mentors have 10+ years of experience — but we make exceptions for people with an uncanny ability to coach and wisdom beyond their years.

What is the selection process for Fast Track Mentors?

Becoming a First Round Mentor is by application or nomination only. After you fill out the application, we'll reach out directly if there's a fit. If you fit the experience level and are passionate about giving back, we highly encourage you to apply. To nominate someone, please email serena@firstround.com sharing a few sentences about why they're great.

Do I need to have been a part of the First Round Network previously?

Not at all. We believe in creating the most diverse community and are excited to open up our Mentorship program to those outside our existing network.

What are details of the program?

From August 15th to November 15th, you will meet bi-weekly with your Mentee for 1-1 working sessions to offer expert advice about the challenges they face. First Round will offer structure and programmatic support for a seamless mentorship experience. Most Mentorship pairs meet in-person, however, if you are located outside of NY/SF, you'll have the option to engage in remote mentorship. As a Mentor, you’ll receive invites to closed 16-persons Salons to foster relationships with other brilliant Mentors and curated learning sessions. Past sessions have included cultivating high-quality relationships led by First Round board partner Chris Fralic and angel investing insights by partner Bill Trenchard.